A Good Memory

It's been a rough few weeks...I've had my victories, but spent a lot of time being defeated as well.

I think in times like that, memory is essential. Remembering things we've seen, good things God has done, and even happy/funny things.

I went to the English corner I co-lead last week, and was delighted to see a friend that I hadn't seen in 2 years (I didn't know he still lived in the city). We caught up, talked about all of our old friends, and talked about why I came to China. He said, "I think you have a lot of happy memories here." "I do, I love it here." I said. As I said it, I believed it (and believe me, I hadn't been feeling the love that week). And he said, "China loves you!"

I actually really treasured that comment because it made me remember the sweet times God has allowed me to experience here, and the wonderful people I've met. I really needed to feel/remember some love.

It made me think about my 21st birthday. At the time, it wasn't my favorite, but after the fact, I actually really loved that day. I celebrated my 21st birthday here, and it happened to fall on the day that myself and the other American exchange students were scheduled to perform in an English festival. It was a pretty momentous undertaking, and it rained that night. We performed in the pouring rain, and unbeknownst to me, the organizers found out it was my birthday. Amid shouts of "Julie, I LOVE YOU!!!" (think crazy fans at a rock concert), the whole group of gathered students (hundreds) sang Happy Birthday to me.

(Performing...this doesn't really show the scope of the amazzzing performance. haha)

At the time, I was mortified. Looking back, it was awesome. People were so welcoming to me.

Sometimes it feels different now, being a resident rather than a guest. I am treated more as a resident, which is satisfying in some ways, and in other ways, lonely. Because I may live here, but I don't fit in yet. I am so grateful for the opportunity to love people I meet well, but I am also grateful for those sweet people God brings into my life that love me well.

Glory

It was a hard week. But Saturday brought some sweet refreshment to my soul. We went and climbed a mountain outside of the city limits. Rode our bicycles out to the village, and then hiked. It was incredible to have a view of our city from the high mountain, and to be reminded of the glory of God reflected in creation. We saw sheep running along the mountain crests, explored a cave (which had a pirate symbol painted on it...but no treasure to be found), and got to see some traditional Chinese opera performed in the village theater. A great day.

And, for the history nerd in me, it was pretty sweet to see the remains of the Great Wall that lay just at the base of the mountain range (there isn't really anything there but earth mound now), and the old village, which was built around 1725 and hasn't really been restored since. It's crazy what a little exploration will bring you.

Orientation

We had our semester orientation today (despite already having school for one week). Points of interest from the Dean of the college, who gave our orientation lecture (he speaks English very well, and they stuck Americans, a Canadian, Finnish people, and a guy from Ghana in the orientation):

-Our professor asked us if the custom with Western names (given name then family name) was part of asserting our individualism. In the east, they go by the family name, then given name. I had never thought of it in those terms to be honest...I am fairly certain this practice evolved as a result of calling people "so-and-so the (profession)". But there probably is some truth to what he pointed out. Interesting.

-Smoking is very unladylike. Men may smoke here, but you will rarely see women smoking. He counseled us not to drink alcohol, smoke, or go out late at night. Or walk/ride a bike without being careful...I have definitely picked up on that one, but I have also gotten more daring since being here...you have to be to ever get to cross the street. :-)

-Do not get angry when people cannot guess your nationality. At this point, Mr. Ren looked at Leslie and I and said "You look Russian." We have been getting that a lot lately...Leslie more than me, but when I am with her, I definitely get it (I have also gotten that I look British, French, or like I am from an eastern province here with Turkic-looking people).

-We must tell the school anytime we travel, as they are responsible for our safety. Yes, feels like babysitting, but foreigners are very closely monitored here.

So there you go...advice from our school. There was also some of Chinese history/his personal opinions on the current state of China thrown in. But, it was pretty humbling to have someone so well-educated and accomplished as our advocate here in the city. :-)

Our Concert Experience

Well, Sunday was the long-awaited "Jay Chou" concert experience....as it turned out...it was not a Jay Chou concert (aka not one of his official tour stops)...the concert organizers just hired him to appear with some other performers. As our city is pretty ghetto compared to bigger cities (or Taipei), it was not really that fabulous of a concert...he was great, but only performed 3 songs at the end and was only there for like 30 minutes total...thus we did not get to meet him.



While you may think we would be SO disappointed, I am determined not to lose face on my goal...thus myself and another friend are considering trying to go to one of his real concerts.

Aside from the bummer of not meeting him, it actually was a fun experience....here is the story of the weekend....

The night before the concert, I bicycled out to the venue, and found what looked like the door that would most likely be used by crew/v.i.p.s.....then snuck inside to view the progress. At this point, I got a clue that perhaps the concert wouldn't be like his other tour stops, because they hadn't even finished assembling the stage:

The next day, the day of the concert, after lunch Leslie and I bicycled out to check again to see if sound check was happening yet...nope. All the workers were asleep on the sidewalk outside. Hm. 6 hours to go and still not all the way set up. We headed home to take a nap and prepare ourselves to look like this:

So, at 4:15 we showed up. (Rookie mistake: in China you should show up late to see the good stuff, not early). We hung around, watched the student volunteers get ready, got hit on by a man with a V.I.P. necktag (who I briefly considered humoring, then decided against it...yay good judgement), and were mistaken for Russians. We also attracted attention of our own as people used their concert binoculars to stare at us from afar.

Eventually we decided to lurk outside the V.I.P. entrance like creepers...we did in fact see a famous singer, but at the time we didn't know who she was....we also watched the backup dancers go in. Finally, a security guy who had been laughing at us asked what we were doing, and when we asked him about Jay Chou, he said he was still at the hotel, but that he would come in this entrance. We determined to wait.

Finally, another volunteer came up and told us we should go inside, that Jay wouldn't perform until past 10 and wouldn't come until right before. He also told us we weren't allowed to lurk, and that we could take pictures after the concert....

The concert was good...we figured out it was organized by the local province, because with each performer they would come onstage and give them a gift/performance of something distinctive to our province. FINALLY, Jay came out and performed 3 songs. He was great, and even used numbchucks in one performance, haha. Alas, it was short and as soon as he got off stage they drove him off....

We went to the stage area to explore though...this was when the same student volunteer (we later nicknamed him our nemesis) told us Jay was in a car right near us...we hurriedly unfurled the giant sign we had made, complete with musical notes and hearts, and the words "周杰伦， 我们爱你！美国也爱你” (Jay Chou, we love you! America also loves you!). We then discovered that Jay was NOT here, but at that point countless cell phone pictures were being snapped of us and our sign, so we posed compliantly before exporing the stage (and there encountering more students who wanted to take photos with us). And so it was that we took more photos for fans that night than any of the other performers. Score.

If you are interested, Jay will be coming to the U.S. (Las Vegas and San Francisco) in December.

Jay, you will not escape us...next stop, official concert!